142 



up the watching game and commenced a search. At last we 

 found -out the secret of the birds' behaviour. We picked up 

 some broken egg-shells, and concluded at once that the bird 

 had young. We tried to find them, but in vain. The two 

 hours, however, were not wasted. The birds came nearer to 

 me than they had ever done before. I often watched them at 

 a distance of not more than ten yards, and was able to hear 

 their notes more distinctly. The note most frequently used 

 is a single plaintive whistle, 'kop/ long drawn out, the 6 pro- 

 nounced as in German, and the consonants scarcely sounded. 

 This, I am almost sure, is the alarm-note; it is principally 

 uttered by the female when she stops and looks round, and sees 

 something of which she disapproves. If the male shows any 

 anxiety about the nest, which he seems to do more and more 

 as incubation progresses, he also utters the same note. The 

 double note kl-ee or kleep, the kl dwelt upon so as to make 

 it a separate syllable, is also uttered by both birds. It is 

 evidently their call-note. I have seen the female, when she 

 has been running away from the male, turn sharp round and 

 look towards him when he has uttered this note, exactly as 

 anyone might do who heard his name called. Whilst we were 

 watching this pair of birds, a couple of other Grey Plovers 

 came up and called as they flew past. The male answered the 

 call and flew towards them. On the w r ing this whistle is 

 lengthened out to three notes. I had some difficulty in catch- 

 ing this note exactly. It is not so often uttered as the two 

 others I have mentioned, and is generally heard when you 

 least expect it ; but I am almost sure that it is a combination 

 of the alarm-note with the call-note kl-ee-kop" 



Then he relates how the tenth nest was procured, and a 

 very good idea is conveyed of the discomforts attending even 

 the discovery of a much desired egg. " By this time we were 

 pretty well tired with tramping the tundra. The ceaseless 

 persecution of the mosquitoes, and the stifling feeling caused 

 by our having to wear a veil with the thermometer above 

 summer heat, had taxed our powers of endurance almost to 

 the utmost, and we turned our faces resolutely towards our 

 boat, but a most anxious pair of Grey Plovers proved too 

 great an attraction for us to resist," &c. (cf. Seebohm, Hist. 

 Brit. B. iii. p. 53), and to this book one must turn if we want; 



